


You and I Will Walk Together Again

by footprintsinthesnow



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Awkward Crush, Fluff, Friendship, Introspection, M/M, a birthday fic for the yukeru queen, but i had to try, i could never write them like her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:34:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24139681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/footprintsinthesnow/pseuds/footprintsinthesnow
Summary: Yuki doesn't know what to make of Kakeru. But, just maybe, he's the kind of guy he wants to be friends with.
Relationships: Manabe Kakeru & Sohma Yuki, Manabe Kakeru/Sohma Yuki
Comments: 7
Kudos: 52





	You and I Will Walk Together Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [a-bigail (spacepuck)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacepuck/gifts).



“D’you wanna get food?” Kakeru asked, his words blurring with the end of a deep yawn. 

Yuki blinked quickly, startled out of the weekly drag of student council paperwork. “Huh?”

“I said, do you want to get food? I’m starving, Yun, if I don’t have something to eat soon my stomach’s gonna end up eating itself.”

After a moment, Yuki knitted his brow, not looking up from the stacks of paper laid out across the desk. “Didn’t you just eat?”

“That was just a snack, Yun-Yun,” he replied, his voice firm and insistent. “Come on, let’s go get food. My treat.”

With a groan, Yuki sat up straight in his chair and looked up to meet Kakeru’s exaggeratedly pleading eyes. He didn’t understand them at all, these silly theatrics that Kakeru constantly put on in front of him. They were tiring, stupid, and reminded him far too much of his brother for comfort. 

He sighed. “If we don’t stay to work on this, we’ll never get it done in time.”

“Ugh. Yun, you’re such a stickler. Anyway, you’re the president, can’t you just extend the due date or something?”

Yuki rolled his eyes; if the way Kakeru’s eyes lit up was any indication, he really thought his idea was a revolutionary one. “You’ll be fine until we’re done.”

“You’re no… listen, I just don’t see why we can’t take a short break,” Kakeru whined. 

“A meal isn’t a short break.”

“It can be, if we eat really fast.”

“I’d rather not choke.”

“Lame,” Kakeru pouted, crossing lanky arms over his chest.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yuki asked, setting his pen down.

Kakeru stared at him for a moment, seemingly unsure of how to proceed. Then, he shook his head and sighed. “Nothing, nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Just…” Yuki started, a tight feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. “Just get back to work, okay?”

“Fine,” Kakeru said. He threw his hands up in the air and sat back down heavily, loudly fidgeting for a position that he deemed comfortable. “You’ve got it, pres.”

The next hour passed in surprising silence, and Yuki found himself glancing across the desk more than once to see if Kakeru had somehow disappeared from the room altogether. Yet, each time he found him right where he had been before - in his chair, leaned over a slowly but steadily thinning stack of paperwork, diligently filling out each line in the neatest script he could manage. Seeing him like this made Yuki wonder if he was hallucinating, or if he was still asleep at home having a particularly annoying dream. 

Still, there were moments like this before, far briefer than this, where he had questioned if Kakeru might be kinder, more complex than just an empty head decorated with mischievous eyes and a troublemaking smile. When he gave him a smile no matter how bitter or tired he was in return. When he laughed at snide remarks and called him interesting. When he suggested ending meetings early on days that Yuki felt as though he was seconds away from a panic attack - not that he had ever told Kakeru as much.

It made him wonder if Kakeru saw him as something more meaningful than just the student council president, or an easy target for his seemingly endless abundance of energy. Perhaps, somehow, Kakeru wasn’t lying when he said Yuki was his friend. He couldn’t even imagine what might happen if, the next time Kakeru called him a friend in that teasing tone of his, he returned the sentiment. The mere idea of the words leaving his mouth felt ridiculous.

But… maybe it didn’t have to be ridiculous. Maybe having friends, the type of friends he could call his own and no one else’s, didn’t need to feel like some kind of pipe dream. 

“Yun.”

He jumped, and Kakeru laughed.

“Didn’t mean to scare you, Yun. Man, you’re like some skittish little animal.”

“Yeah, guess I am,” Yuki said. “Sorry.”

“You’re good,” Kakeru chuckled. “Anyway, I finished the paperwork. You want me to stick around while you finish yours, or should I get out of your hair?”

Yuki stared at him, mouth gaping. Any other day he would have dismissed him with a quick comment about needing a minute of peace and quiet, and Kakeru would just snort and say his goodbyes. But today… 

“Would you mind staying?”

Now, it was Kakeru’s turn to jump. “Wait, really? You want me to stay?”

“Yes.”

“You mean to like, help you finish your share of the paperwork right? Not that I mind, I mean, I did take this job because I -”

“No. I… I just want you to keep me company,” Yuki said slowly, the words falling unnaturally from his tongue. “It gets lonely, doing the paperwork alone.”

Kakeru cocked his head before finally smiling. It wasn’t his usual smile, it was something softer. To Yuki, it looked as though he was truly happy. “Yeah. I’ll stay. Promise I won’t bug you too much, either.”

Yuki nodded. “And, um, maybe we can get food after? Because you mentioned you were hungry.”

“Dude, seriously? You want to get food with me? Is this real, am I dreaming?”

He nodded again. “It will be my treat. But you’ve got to be quiet while I work, got it?”

“Aye aye, captain,” Kakeru replied, his voice verging amusingly close to a squeal. “My lips are zipped. You won’t even know I’m here.”

“Sure,” Yuki huffed, hiding a small burst of laughter as he hunched over the paperwork again. Maybe he did hope Kakeru meant it when he called Yuki his friend, and maybe there was some part of him that wanted to call Kakeru his friend in return. Everything with him was like venturing into new territory - frightening but exciting in ways that sent an unfamiliar thrill throughout his whole body. 

As he busied himself with his work, he found himself feeling glad that he had taken his first step.

**Author's Note:**

> \- happy birthday to abby, the queen of rats and yukeru. i love you and i am glad you are my friend and discord wife.  
> \- title from "we're going to be friends" by the white stripes  
> \- come hang out on tumblr @machi-kuragi


End file.
